In 2011, I gave up a career in information technology to start my own company. I have my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Business from the University of Florida and worked in information technology for over 15 years. When my son was born with Down Syndrome, I became involved in disability advocacy. In 2007 I was appointed by Governor Crist to serve on the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council. In 2009, I was appointed by the Florida Education Commissioner to the Florida State Advisory Committee for the Education of Exceptional Students. This work, and my son, inspired the creation of Opportunity Works, Inc. based in St. Petersburg, FL. Opportunity Works is a full-service staffing and recruiting company, focusing our recruiting efforts on people with disabilities. I get to educate employers everyday about the value of including disabilities in the workplace. We believe companies are missing opportunities to hire qualified and dedicated employees and exist to help fill that gap.

Counting Blessings

I have so much to be thankful for this week. My children are having a great year in school so far. It’s always scary with Zachary and his special needs. I spend so much time volunteering in the educational community and for that, my kids sometimes pay the price. So, I am very thankful to have two wonderful children who are my inspiration and who keep me going. We won’t know if we’ve hit it out of the park until Zachary is an adult and we see if he’s able to land that dream job of his, whatever it may be.

The Thanksgiving Turkey float during the 85th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York November 24, 2011. (Image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife)

This brings us to the business of Opportunity Works, the full service staffing company my partner Jim DeBeaugrine and I started 15 months ago, with a focus on hiring people with disabilities. I am grateful to all the customers I have to thank. I started working on our holiday card list and found I have acquired many new customers in the past year. With each new customer, I have a better defined process, more ideas with which I can help them and more confidence that I made the right choice in leaving my old career behind for this challenge.

I am grateful to my advisory committee. I gushed over that group in a prior post. I am grateful to the support here at Forbes magazine, without which, I might not have such an impressive advisory committee. And guys, I am chipping away at the goals you have given me for the year. You may be happy I am not pestering you with much frequency. Know that it’s only because I am so busy taking action towards the goals you gave me, I don’t have time. I will make time though, don’t worry.

I have learned in the past year how much small businesses really mean in a community. I thought I had to get customers like TechData, HSN and Disney to make this work. I will get those customers. But, it has been other small business owners that have demanded my services. These business owners know how new Opportunity Works is and there seems to be this brotherhood of sorts. It is the companies that have been around for about 3 – 5 years that are most enthusiastically using my services. Not only that, they don’t fret when I make mistakes, instead they mentor. After all, they were in my shoes so recently, and these customers all apparently found mentors and are paying it forward now. Thank you!

I have learned in the past year how much it is that I have to learn. I thank Red Rock Leadership who has provided so much more than just sales training. Thanks too, to the American Staffing Association who has, much to my surprise, treated the little tiny membership of Opportunity Works as such an important add to their big organization. These two organizations have been great resources from which I have learned.

I must also mention Deborah Linton, executive director of the Arc of Florida. Deborah knew and supported our plans to start Opportunity Works. The Arc of Florida has kept us in the forefront of the disability community in the State, and more importantly has been a steady source of consulting work for us this past year. The jobs have helped us learn how to refine our business and have helped us grow our networks and provide us a fairly steady source of revenue. Thank you so much Deborah!

Finally, to my friends who diligently read my posts and make a point to reach out to me and tell me that I inspire, energize and remind me that they believe I will succeed. You give me strength that you can’t even imagine.

I hope everyone has a warm, delicious Thanksgiving and takes some time out of the hustle and bustle to remember all the blessings of life.

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